


when nothing's right, you shine a light

by hopskipaway



Series: Troped: The Fanfic Writing Challenge [4]
Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-01
Updated: 2019-11-01
Packaged: 2021-01-16 02:55:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,419
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21263918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hopskipaway/pseuds/hopskipaway
Summary: He has seen enough horror movies to know this trip will be nothing but trouble: a group of friends travelling to stay in a remote house in the woods for the Halloween weekend, what could go wrong?Or; maybe he might find that it is, in fact, possible for something good to happen to John Murphy.





	when nothing's right, you shine a light

**Author's Note:**

> CHOPPED: THE 100 FANFIC CHALLENGE - ROUND THREE ** 4th**  
  
THEME: modernized canon ** 3rd**  
modernized version of murphy staying behind with raven on the eligius ship in episode three, season five.
> 
> TROPE 1: magic au  
TROPE 2: hard cut **1st**  
TROPE 3: secret places **2nd**  
TROPE 4: love potion
> 
> BONUS: halloween **2nd**  
BONUS: <strike>smut</strike>  
BONUS: unique pairing ** 3rd**

Trees flew past, brown and wiry. At this point already devoid of any of their leaves, the time for bright and beautiful fall colours long past. Left with only a dull brown, the landscape left much to be desired. Though still peaceful in a sullen, gloomy kind of way.

The last ten minutes had been quiet – almost too quiet.

“Are we there yet?”

“Murphy, for the love of God. Shut. Up.”

All that came in response to that was a smirk from the brown-haired man, and a continuation of his incessant tapping of the car window.

The inhabitants of the car let the outburst end there, relaxing once more into the sound of whatever alternative rock CD Murphy made them put into the car. No amount of reasoning that Bellamy had Bluetooth could deter Murphy from having the _perfect road trip experience_; his words. 

Apparently, that included stopping for snacks despite it being a less than an hour drive. As well as a never-ending question period of when they would arrive, though Echo’s phone was attached to the dash with the estimated time of arrival clearly displayed.

Bellamy looked back in the rear-view mirror and saw Murphy’s mouth open, already sighing in anticipation of whatever words may come out.

“Shouldn’t it be for the love of Merlin? It is almost _Hallows Eve_, after all.”

“Oh, don’t start this.”

“Why? You scared, Bellamy?”

“Scared? No. Annoyed? Entirely.”

A snort escaped out of the younger man, “Keep talking like that and I’ll sick all the wizards and ghouls and goblins on you when we get into the woods.”

“Can we please stop talking about this.” Echo cut in, voice slightly wavering.

“Echo? Babe? He’s just kidding.” Bellamy met Murphy’s eyes in the mirror, seeing a pair of furrowed brows answering his own.

“Yeah… Sheesh, don’t tell me you buy into that supernatural bullshit.”

“I’ve heard… stories,” Echo said quietly, “People will _unnatural_ abilities, living in the shadows.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll protect you,” Bellamy flexed his bicep to prove his point, which Murphy quickly slapped. “Anyways, I think the most ghastly aspect of this weekend will be the condition of the house.”

Echo gave a thoughtful hum in response before turning around to look at Murphy.

“Why is you haven’t been back there until now? You were, what, ten when you left?”

“Why haven’t I gone back to the house I lost everything in? The one I found my own mother dead in? If only we had a genius here to figure that one out. Where’s Raven when you need her?”

“Murphy…” Bellamy called out in warning.

“Okay fine,” Murphy sighed, “You can rest assured the only scary things we’ll be seeing this weekend are the ghosts of Murphys past.”

“Spooky.” Echo whispered out while turning around.

“Yeah… spooky.” Murphy slumped back in his seat, resolutely looking out the window.

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡

Pulling up to the driveway they saw Raven’s rickety old Jeep already in the driveway. Monty, Harper, Raven and Emori in the process of unpacking.

Monty waved hello as he opened the back of the Jeep to produce a frankly ridiculous amount of alcohol.

“Well? Don’t just stand there! Grab a case!”

Eventually, after many trips of bags and bottles and space heaters, the house was ready.

“Oh, I just can’t wait, this is going to be so fun!” Harper nearly squealed.

Monty came around beside her, putting his arm around her waist.

“Thank you for letting us come here, Murphy. Can’t wait until we have a house, a real house – no offence, and we can host all the parties we want.”

“This definitely lives up to the spooky vibes I was promised” Emori said, skating her finger through a trail of dust on the fireplace mantel. Her hand then reaching out to grab a frame sitting there.

Only a glimpse of a happy trio at the beach could be had before Murphy was flipping the photo over.

“Questioning my past is off limits. Or else you can all kick rocks.”

Six heads nodded in response, knowing how sullen and protective Murphy can be over his past. They have gotten bits and pieces of his story over the years, but never a full picture. It was something they learned to respect once the hardened man entered their lives.

“Anyways,” Echo said, breaking the tension. “How about we fire up the old barbeque and see about making some _halloweenies_.”

This time, instead of nodding, six different groans called out in response.

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡

The rest of the night passed in relative peace.

If you could call pounding music, sloshing drinks, and screaming mouths peaceful.

“Murphy! Come dance!” Bellamy called to Murphy, who was sitting down on the old couch.

“Nonono, I’m good right here.” He slurred, holding up his bottle of prized whisky.

Raven appeared right in front of his face, smile wide and carefree.

“Come on Murphy, the man said dance. So, dance!” With a flourish she pulled him to his feet, causing them both to stumble and hold each other’s forearms to keep steady.

Shifting her grasp to his hands, Raven began pulling Murphy into an awkward shuffle. Between her leg and his two left feet, they were anything but graceful. Nonetheless, Murphy smiled so large his cheeks hurt, and he had to guess Raven was feeling something similar.

It was only when he caught the eyes of Emori, who had a somewhat hurt look on her face, that he decided he had done enough dancing for the night.

“How about we do something different?” He whispered into Raven’s ear. “I’m sure the kitchen table would make a great beer pong table.”

“BEER PONG!” She shouted in response, catching the attention of the others.

Leave it to Raven’s relentless competitive streak to cause an effective distraction.

Finally, after a rousing game of beer pong – which Raven and Echo won – they decided to call it a night. Quickly realizing they probably should have set up their beds before the alcohol started flowing.

The couch was quickly claimed by the winners of the night, and the rest were left to fend for themselves. Blankets and pillows were strewn about as makeshift beds, no one having the energy to set up their air mattresses. They all swore they would properly set up their sleeping arrangements the next day.

Before Murphy laid down, he noticed Raven slightly shivering, already having fallen asleep. Without much hesitation, he was walking over to the couch to lay one of his limited blankets over the woman. If Echo was awake and gave him a knowing smile, he wasn’t going to mention it.

“Remember,” a hoarse whisper came from Harper from across the room, “this was just the pre-game. The real party starts tomorrow.”

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡

Evening had hit and Harper, Emori and Echo had set out to light far too many candles to be considered safe. Though, it was all in the name of setting the mood.

“I don’t know about you, but its costume time!” Harper called out singsongingly.

“My house, my rules.” Murphy piped up. “And I say no costumes.”

“Overruled!” Monty suddenly appears behind him, throwing a cape over Murphy’s head.

Scrambling to get it off and huffing in annoyance, Murphy relented.

“Fine, if you guys want to wear a stupid ass costume all night, by all means.”

“Don’t think you won’t be getting your _stupid ass_ into a costume too, Murphy.”

“I didn’t bring one.” He said, far too smug.

Harper began furiously rummaging through her bag, pulling item after item out.

“Don’t worry Murphy, a lady always comes prepared.”

“If you expect me to get into whatever girly costumes you have, you’re nuts!”

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡

He had to admit, gazing at himself in the cracked full-length mirror, he didn’t look awful in Harper’s spare costume.

Sure, the witch’s costume came with a dress, but when paired with his jeans it just looked like a shirt. A really long shirt. A really long, skin-revealing shirt. The hat wasn’t half bad, and at least now he had a nice pointy stick to poke Bellamy with all night.

He had bargained that as long as he didn’t have to wear the wig, the girls had free range to do his makeup. They were surprisingly kind to him. Only adding some sparkly stuff to his face and eyeliner around his eyes.

His entrance back into the living room had earned him a standing ovation, and a shot of whiskey. To think, if Murphy from six years ago was put in this position the whole place would have been in ruins and they would have rued the day they dared do something like this to him. Instead, he was having difficulties supressing the smile that threatened to escape his lips.

The smile only grew harder to hold back when he saw the smile on Raven’s face, and the way her eyes sparkled with fondness. Wanting to show off, he did a spin for her that ended in a rather ungraceful curtsy. The laughter he got in response from all of them, but especially one distinct laugh, was enough for him to finally break out into a genuine smile.

That was, a flash was seen from the corner of his eyes, Monty’s phone in hand. Launching himself at the dark-haired man, Murphy was just barely held back by Echo.

“Stop that. Just drink up and shut up.” A solo cup comes into his line of vision. “Happy Halloween, Murphy.”

:*:･ﾟ★,｡

“Fuck! Shit! Fuck”

Murphy blearily scrambled up from the rug he passed out on, flinging the end he had pulled up as a makeshift blanket off his body. 

“It wasn’t me!” He mumbled out.

Trying to cycle through something that had happened in the last two nights that had Bellamy in such a frenzy, Murphy was having issues. The memories were blurry and hazy, their drunken debauchery melding together. He tried to come up with any reason but, in his hungover and sluggish mind, he was coming up short. Sure, Bellamy’s watch had been broken, but it wasn’t _Murphy’s_ fault the older man got in the way of his beer pong shot. He vaguely recalls kissing Echo, but it was her idea to play that dumb drinking game anyways. Really, he couldn’t even keep track of who he all kissed that night, though he did know he didn’t kiss Raven. That stuck out to him for some reason... But maybe it was-

“-Clarke. I have like, a thousand missed calls from her.” Bellamy said, his hand carding through his hair. “We gotta go now.”

“Now? It’s the middle of the night!” Called Raven from the bathroom.

“It’s five forty-five, actually.” 

“So, the freaking middle of the night!”

“Guys, she was at the same party as Octavia. What if something happened?”

Echo walked into the room, already dressed.

“Come on, it’s Sunday anyways, might as well head home.”

“Fine!” Raven groaned, emerging from the bathroom, hair in utter disarray. “But Emori is driving the Jeep, I’m gonna go back to sleep once we hit the road.”

“Fine by me.” The girl in question smiled. She always liked the chance to play with Raven’s toys, the girls finding many similarities to one another as they grew closer.

A few outfit changes and hastily packed bags later, the group was ready to head out. 

Bellamy was just backing out when he heard the telltale sounds of Raven’s Jeep not starting.

“You’ve got to be kidding me! I fixed that!” A muffled shout comes from the Jeep before a brown ponytail goes flying out of the backseat and is quickly under the hood.

Bellamy approached “How bad is it?”

“It’s not great. It’ll take a bit to fix, we’re just lucky I always have my tools.”

“So, what do we do?” Harper pops up over Raven’s shoulder.

“I do want to leave now… think we could fit in one vehicle?”

“Bellamy, if you think I’m leaving my vehicle here, you’re crazy.” Raven scoffed. “If you guys want to go ahead, I’ll stay back and fix this.”

“Raven. That’s not safe.”

“Come on _mom_, I’ll have this baby fixed up in a jiffy, I’ll drive myself back and-“

“Bob’s your uncle?”

“Ignoring that,” Raven waves her fingers in the direction of Monty. “My phone has been getting steady service out here anyways, unlike your pieces of junk. So, if I need to call someone I will.”

“Raven, if you're sure.”

“Positive. Have fun squishing into Bellamy’s death wish on wheels.”

Harper, Monty and Emori reluctantly took their bags out of Jeep and waved goodbye, Murphy throwing her the keys to the house to lock up when she leaves. 

Raven set off into the house, presumably to sleep more, while the rest of them began squeezing into the car. With one person too many, it was not going to be a very fun trip.

“Uh. Does anyone want to stay behind?” Harper meekly asked.

“Maybe John does.” Emori said, with a hint of malice. “On the other hand, it would be best for it to be someone who could actually help Raven out with the Jeep. So maybe _he_ shouldn’t.”

A door opened and a chorus of grunts and groans are let out as Murphy squeezed himself out.

“Come on Murphy! She was kidding! Right Emori!”

“It’s fine Bell, someone should keep her company. Might as well be me.” He replied with a shrug. “It’s technically my place anyways. Now get out of here.”

He watched the car until it left his sight over the horizon which was finally lightening up some, before wandering to the back of the house.

Not wanting Raven to see him, he kept close to the house. He waited until she came back out, the sun was just rising and giving enough light for her to begin her work.

“It’s not a bad view.”

In a flash, Raven turned around menacingly holding a wrench. The imitating demeanour only ruined by the slight fumbling of her bad leg.

“What- Murphy?” Shock was written all over her face. “What are you doing here?”

“Keeping you company. You’re welcome.”

“Shouldn’t you be heading back with the others?”

“Nah, thought I’d stay behind. Wait for you to finish up.”

An eyebrow is raised, “Well. Consider me surprised. But - If you’re expecting a speedy get away, don’t.”

“Eh. If I get too bored, I’ll borrow your phone and call Mbege to come get me.”

“My phone doesn’t really get good service out here either. I just told Bellamy that so he’d leave, and I wouldn’t have to hear him worry and whine anymore.”

“Oh.” Disappointment bleed out of Murphy’s tone. “Well this is no fun now… Though, still probably more fun that being crammed into a car with my ex girlfriend for an hour.”

“Look on the bright side, you _are_ right about one thing. This view is pretty nice… Company might not be half bad either.” She nudged his shoulder, both leaning against the side of the vehicle to watch the sun rise over the hillside.

Watching the sky bleed into red and orange tones, and finally a soft blue, Murphy is hit with emotion when he thinks about how many times he sat out here watching the sunrise or sunset as a child. When they all took time out of their morning chores to enjoy a calm moment. His mom and dad sitting on either side of him like bookends, holding hands behind his back. Those were some of the last times he truly felt happy, he thinks. It was back when he was _John_ instead of Murphy. Part of him wanted to share these feelings with Raven, as she was the one who knew the closest approximation to what had happened all those years ago. Though he knew deep down that the story was one secret he would likely have to take to the grave.

“Well,” He said, shaking off all those thoughts. “I’m going to go find something to eat around here.”

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡

“Think fast!”

A half-deflated soccer balls flies at Raven’s head when she enters the house, and she just managed to catch it in time.

Dropping it to the floor, she levels his with a stare. “Got any spare tools around here? My stash isn’t cutting it.”

“Uh, maybe down in the basement. That’s where Da-, _he_, used to keep them.”

Shooting him a thumbs up and a small, sad smile, Raven made her descent into the basement.

A sudden shriek had Murphy quickly following.

“Damn, Reyes! What? See a spider or something?” He chuckled, taking the stairs two at a time. “Don’t worry, ol’ Murphy here will protect you, told ya it was a good idea for me to stay behi-“

“What. The. Fuck.” Raven breathed out.

Every available space in the basement was covered in bodies. Men and women strewed about, all wearing the same dark robes.

Murphy slowly approached a body, Raven instinctually reaching a hand out to stop him.

“They- They’re breathing.”

It only took a moment of eye contact to send them both into action. Murphy reached an arm around Raven to help her quickly get up the stairs.

Grabbing his phone and tossing Raven’s into her waiting hand, they both started dialing.

“I’m not getting through, are you getting through?”

With a shake of his head, the gravity of the situation was sinking in.

“Can you get the Jeep working? Even just enough to get onto the main road? Or else I think we should walk.”

“I- I can try.”

Sprinting out of the house, the two set to work. Murphy helping where he could, but still the vehicle wouldn’t start.

“Look Raven, we have to go. Now. I’ll carry you if I have to.”

“Okay, fine. But we are coming back for her later.” She tilted her head in the direction of the Jeep.

The two set off, Murphy making sure Raven was keeping up. He took her bag from her to take some weight off her leg.

The pair only got as far as the first treeline before two hooded figures stepped out from the woods.

“Now what do we have here?” One of them drawled out, tone light, as if having a friendly conversation. The dark robes adorning the strangers, the same as the ones on the comatose bodies in the basement, implied it was anything but.

“Shaw,” He continued. “How about we show our guest a little hospitality. No sense in us standing out here in the cold.”

They, _Shaw_, stepped in front of Raven and Murphy. It was as if he hardly touched them but suddenly their hands were bound, and they were being directed back to the house.

They were placed on chairs in the kitchen, their feet bound just as their hands were.

The hooded figures took their robes off, revealing two men. One with a full beard and a half shaved, swooping haircut. The other, younger, with dark skin and a closely shaved head.

The first one, the one who seemed to be the leader, stepped forward and got into the newly prisoned pair’s faces.

“I don’t take too kindly to trespassers, and I’m only going to ask you once. Who. Sent. You.”

“Look man, we have no clue what you are talking about. This is _my_ house.”

“This house has been abandoned for years. He’s lying, sir.” The younger one spoke up for the first time.

“He’s telling the truth! I promise! Please just let us go and we can prove it! He has the paperwork somewhere.” Raven said, while struggling with the ropes around her wrists. Somehow, they seemed to get impossibly tighter through her struggling.

“Let you go? So what? You can run along back to the Nightbloods? You are trying to mess with us while our numbers are down.”

“Please! We have no clue what you are talking about!”

“Honey, stupidity isn’t a good look on you.” The older man reached out to brush a strand of hair out of Raven’s face, and she flinched back in response. “Shaw. Separate them. We’re gonna have to do this the hard way.”

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,

Shaw and the other man had taken Murphy to one of the bedrooms and alternated between pleading with him for answers and trying to pry information out of him with brute force. Despite seeing no weapons, Murphy had been shocked and beaten. They had unbound his feet and had his tied-up hands stretched up above him, rope hooked on a coat rack. He wasn’t sure how he was still conscious, but as they brought his arms down, the thought of seeing Raven made him steel himself.

Shaw held Murphy’s hands retrained hands firmly while walking him out to the kitchen.

Murph jolted forward when he saw Raven. The older one, the one they informed him is named McCreary and expected that to mean anything to him, kneed him in the stomach.

“Stop! Don’t Hurt him, please!” Raven wailed.

Shaw threw him forward, and Murphy landed at Raven’s feet.

McCreary stepped out, telling Shaw to “Handle it.”

“Are you okay?” She asked in, in a soft voice.

“Are you?”

“We need to get out of here Murphy, we need- “

A throat cleared above them. It was Shaw hovering above, holding two glasses.

“Here. Shouldn’t really be giving you anything but you must be thirsty.” He said while setting them on the table.

Murphy stood up and brought both hands up to hold the glass. He cautiously sniffed the liquid, finding it smelled of nothing. He gave Raven a threatening look and a shake of his head before raising the glass to his mouth and taking a sip.

“Just water. It’s fine.” He prompted Raven to drink from her own, helping her maneuver the glass so she could take a sip.

The next moments passed in silence, the pair being too scared to talk in front of Shaw. They passed their empty glasses back to Shaw, who left the two alone in the room.

The two looked at each other for a while, trying to hold a silent conversation, worried they would be interrupted at any moment. Raven’s face suddenly went lax, all traces of tension and worry leaving her expression.

“Murphy. I- I think we can trust Shaw.”

“Excuse me?” Murphy sputtering indignantly. “The man just aided in _torturing_ me, Raven. We need to get out of here.”

“I know, I know. It’s just, I don’t know how to explain it, but I know he is a good person.”

“This is nuts. Come on, just untie me and let’s get out of here, I don’t know where they went, this could be our chance.” Murphy noticed that the house was suspiciously quiet.

Murphy set his bound hands on Raven’s lap and she deftly untied his ropes. He untied her hands and feet as quick as possible, hands shaking in the process. He wasn’t sure how Raven was being so calm about this all.

“Going so soon?” McCreary stepped back in the room, closely followed by Shaw.

“Just let us go. Clearly we aren’t who you think we are.”

“You know what? Fine. Go.”

Murphy stepped in front of Raven protectively, sensing a trap. His hand reached out blindly for hers, finally making purchase and moving to pull her to safety.

Raven, though, stayed rooted to the spot.

“No. I- I want to stay.” She broke their hands apart. “I want to stay here. With Shaw.”

She moved to stand in front of the man and Murphy noticed she was unsteady on her feet, as if she was heavily drunk or, drugged. Shaw opened his arms to wrap around her shoulder’s possessively from behind, giving Murphy a smug smirk.

“Raven! What did they do to you?” Murphy thundered out.

“Guess she decided to upgrade, isn’t that right, Raven?”

She looked up at McCreary and smiled, nodding her head.

“You,” Murphy started. “You sons of bitches are witches or- or wizards, aren’t you?”

“My friend Murphy was a witch!” Raven let out a laugh, word slurring.

Murphy saw red. Running straight at McCreary, Murphy’s fist connecting with his stomach.

“Oh,” McCreary said, seemingly unphased by the assault. “Mortal boy thinks he can play with the big boys.

_Murphy was a witch!_

_Mortal boy._

_Murphy was a witch!_

_Mortal boy._

The words ricocheted in his mind, and he knew what he had to do.

With a thunderous roar, he threw out his hands, which began to let off an intense glow. Light began to shoot out, hitting Shaw and McCreary, making them wince and try to shield themselves. Raven was pushed to the ground in the process, no longer able to stand on her own.

The two men suddenly fell to the ground, and Murphy wasn’t sure if they were unconscious or dead. He was too engrossed with looking at his hands, his face that of a man who did not know he had that in him.

Murphy blinked back into reality, and once his eyes landed on Raven, he launched back into action.

“Raven, hey! Raven! We gotta go.”

“Who are you? Where’s Shaw?” She asked, pathetically.

“He – I’ll help you find him later, first we have to go.”

Murphy picked a begrudging Raven off the ground, scooping her up into his arms bridal style.

Exiting out the backdoor he walked with purpose, in the now soft moonlight, until he reached a giant old tree. Rounding around the back of the wide trunk, he placed Raven down before locating a loose piece of bark.

Once lifted the bark gave way to a wide hole, emitting a soft glow. He ushered Raven to go through, and in her drugged state, started crawling without question.

Murphy followed behind, making sure to prop the bark back into place.

He turned around to see Raven marvelling at the interior of the place. Her hands reaching out to touch the drawings and words on the walls of the tree house, each line and sketch letting off an unnatural soft light. She trailed her hands along the flowers that sprung out of the grassy floor, something that should be impossible in late October.

Murphy thinks of the days spent in here with his dad, learning all about magic. How much happiness it can bring: his dad springing up flowers from his palm to give to Murphy’s mother. How much laughter it can bring: tickling Murphy to the point of tears without even lifting a finger. But also, unintentionally, how much pain it can bring: a young Murphy, stuck in a hospital bed surrounded by desperate parents. The eldest Murphy, using his powers in plain sight, in hopes that his healing magic could help. The hospital staff seeing, reporting the strange behaviour immediately. Men in suits coming and taking Murphy’s dad away, never to be seen again. His mother, and her poor mortal heart, to never be the same.

He thinks of that day, and how he ruled off magic forever. Even without taking in account it was forbidden in most of society, it wasn’t hard. It wasn’t like he knew how to control his powers anyways; they had been working on it, in their secret little tree, but had no luck. His dad told him it takes time, maturity. However, maturity proves to have nothing to do with it, when years later he gets into a freak car accident and tries to save his friends. All he ends up doing is convicting one girl to a bum leg and a life of constant pain and suffering, and no way of being able to say how he is the one responsible for it, to apologize.

“Where are we?” With that question, Murphy is rocked back to reality.

“In a tree.”

“Okay.”

Murphy crawled over to kneel beside Raven, hand reaching out to take one of hers into his grip.

She pulled back with a muttered “Where’s Shaw?”

“Shit. It’s still working.” Murphy tried to pull out any knowledge he had about possession potions he knew to the surface of his mind. Commonly known as _love potions_, it takes a sick bastard to use one. Leaving its victim in a state of total devotion to the creator, no matter what. He remembered his dad telling him that they normally aren’t long term, especially for those who are unfamiliar with one another prior to dosage.

He had to assume Shaw fucked it up somehow, considering Raven could hardly stand on her own two feet and was steadily becoming more and more lost in her own world. He hoped that all it would take is snapping her out of it.

He tried everything. Speaking loudly right in her face, pinching her arm, literally snapping his fingers. Nothing seemed to be working and Murphy was getting desperate.

He grabbed her by her shoulders, speaking softly.

“Raven. Hey. Come back to me. It’s Murphy. John. Please, you – you have to.”

Cupping her jaw with both hands, he urged her to look within his eyes. Find some sort recognition of the Raven he knows, or for her to know him back.

Laying his forehead against hers, he begins to cry.

He thinks of how he can’t lose her like this. He thinks about how much he truly hates magic, for all it has lost him. He would be dammed if it caused him to lose her too.

His thumb brushed against her lips, ones he had thought about so much in the past few years. He doesn’t want it to be like this, their first kiss. Though he tells himself, if it saves her it would be worth it to never even see her ever again.

As gently as he can, he guides her lips to meet his. He is met with weak resistance, her mind still only thinking of Shaw. Then suddenly, he is launched backwards, head hitting the wooden wall behind him.

“What the fuck!” He yelled, rubbing the spot that will surely turn into a bruise.

“Murphy! Where are we? What – What happened? Where are those bastards?”

“In a tree. You drank a love potion. I shot them with some sort of light that came out of my hands and they passed out, maybe?”

“Oh.”

“Oh?”

“Well I must be dreaming.”

She begins to pinch herself, growing more and more agitated when she doesn’t wake up.

Murphy tries and fails to hold back a laugh.

“Wait. Dream Murphy.” She said, pointing at him, “Did you… kiss me?”

“Not a dream, Reyes.” He said, blush flooding his cheeks. “Uh I kinda did. I’m sorry about that. It wasn’t right, I know that, but I just thoug-“

He is cut off when a hand comes around his neck to pull him into a kiss. He was momentarily stunned, unable to move. When her teeth grazed his bottom lip, his brain rebooted, and he passionately kissed her back.

“Wait. Were you crying?” She said between kisses.

“Shut up, Raven.”

She pulled back, looking at him thoughtfully.

“Well if this _isn’t_ a dream, which I still highly doubt, I’m glad you stayed behind. I – I care about you Murphy, have for a while now.” She said, almost shyly.

“I care about you too.”

“I mean… romantically, or whatever.”

“I care about you romantically or whatever too, Raven.”

She gave him another, softer kiss. When finished, she reached up to cup his cheek.

“Are we safe here? Are you okay?”

“Yeah, perfectly safe. I'm okay now that you're okay.” He replied. “And I’m sure Bellamy and company will come looking for us soon.”

"Thank you for saving me."

"Thank you for saving _me_."

"That doesn't even make sense." Raven scoffed.

"But it does Raven, it really does."

She gave him a questioning hum and glance, prompting him to go on. All he gave in return was a shake of his head.

“Okay. Let’s talk later. I’m pretty sure I’m still hungover from Friday and I am _not_ ready to learn about magical shooting hands and love potions and secret hidey hole trees. And worst of all, talk about our _feelings_.”

Laughing, he pulled her into his chest, resting his chin on her head.

“Sounds good to me.”

Laying back and surrounded by the other’s embrace, moonlight pouring into the tree through its gnarled knots and holes, the two could agree on one more thing.

“Weirdest. Halloween. Ever.”

｡･:*:･ﾟ★,

“So, you’re a… wizard?”

“Uh huh.”

“How does _that_ happen?”

“Well you see, when a wizard and a mortal really love each other…”

**Author's Note:**

> title is from the song swimming in the moonlight by bad suns.
> 
> come to my secret tree hideout on [twitter](https://twitter.com/hopskipaway) or [tumblr](https://hopskipaway.tumblr.com/).


End file.
